Three years
by Mysca
Summary: A year has passed by since Raguna's death and it was time to visit his grave. Russell's POV. This is post – Last Regret.


**Summary:** A year has passed by since Raguna's death and it was time to visit his grave. Russell's POV. This is post – Last Regret.

**Rating:** K+

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rune Factory.

**A/N:** I suck a lot but I like this fic so nonetheless, I hope you enjoy =)

**...xxx...**

"Daddy, are you coming...?"

I looked up from my book; I glance down at my young daughter who had a gloomy look on her face. She tugged my sleeve tightly and hung her head down. She stayed there silent and I changed my position on the chair, then gestured her to come closer.

She then put her arms around my waist and buried her head on the lower part of my chest. I could hear her whimpers and I patted her head. At times like these, it was better to remain silent.

"I miss him so much Daddy, I know that it's been a year but..."

She couldn't finish her sentence, she tried to wipe her tears away but even more came rolling down her cheeks. Her nose was red and mucus was dripping from her nose.

I gave a sad smile. I took my handkerchief and started to wipe her face. I had let her blow her nose hard and the handkerchief was now wet with tears.

"Cecilia...I miss him too, we all miss him but Raguna would be sad if he saw you crying right now." I took a clean tissue and wiped the tear near her eye. I smiled sadly at her as she turned away. She ran away from me and headed straight to the bathroom. She came back while rubbing her face with a dry towel. She seemed cleaned up now.

I disposed of the tissues and put the handkerchief into the laundry basket. I asked her if she was ready to go and she replied that she wanted to change her dress first since it was a bit messed up. She ran to her room and I watched her slam the door behind her.

It reminded me of how she acted just a year ago. Cecilia had been almost inconsolable and she locked herself in her room. I had closed the library for several days, during that time, Kardia was filled with gloom, a very special member of our village had been killed recently and nobody could get over it for the first few weeks.

The usually spunky energetic daughter of mine was weeping silently in her room, sometimes she would come out saying that it hurt too much. She asked me so many questions. Why was he killed? How did the monsters get in? Why wasn't Raguna able to kill them off first? Where was Raguna going to? I answered them with simple answers, though knowing Ceci; she started to be in denial.

"_Stop lying! Raguna is really strong! There must have been a reason!"_

"_If there is a god like Wesley says, then why did he let Raguna die!"_

"_Daddy! Why wasn't Bianca able to protect Raguna!"_

The questions were endless. After a week, she just stayed in her room, it was so silent, the occasional creaks of the door opening to get the food I had laid out for her was the only sound I had heard for a week.

Those two week had probably the worse two weeks of Ceci's life, or at least the part of her life that she remembered.

Nicholas had finally visited her at the end of those two weeks. I had left the two of them alone to talk though I did watch them from the staircase. I saw Ceci get out and she had tears in her eyes. She soon hugged Nicholas and the boy also started to cry.

I went towards them and Ceci saw me, she ran to me and started to repeat, "I'm sorry!" while crying. Nicholas tried to dry his tears and Sabrina suddenly appeared, she seemed to have been looking for Nicholas, he hadn't told her where he was going and it made her extremely worried. Especially since Raguna was gone.

Ceci came out of her room with her new dress and pointed to her hair, and asked me to fix it. Her dress was the one she used for the funeral of Raguna, although it had a very painful memory for her, she chose to wear it as she believed that it showed respect for Raguna.

I handed her coat and reminded her that it was cold and she had to be careful not to catch a cold.

She grasped my hand firmly and I patted her head again softly.

"Let's go, my brave girl."

We walked slowly towards Raguna's farm. It used to be such a mess but Camus had fixed the house at least, I heard that Ivan provided the resources for the repairs; it was quite strange since he had stopped visiting right after the funeral. All the animals were released by Tabatha before she left with Bianca and their child. I had forgotten the name of that boy, and it seemed to have slipped off Tori's mind.

It was only five in the afternoon but it was rather late, Cecilia didn't want to be early, as much as possible, she wanted to avoid going there. We finally arrived there and Ceci was looking more down than ever. Her grip became tenser and I heard her choke in an attempt to stop her tears.

I turned my head to the direction of Major Lynette. She was rather silent; she was probably the one in charge of taking care of Raguna's grave ever since Mist had suddenly disappeared six months ago. On the note she had left, it simply said, "I am off to the whale island to find something I have lost." God knows what she meant but Lynette seemed to take it rather well. Rosetta, on the other hand, threw a fit; she was pretty upset with Mist's disappearance. Though she got over it after a week but she still sulked for several days after.

We walked towards the rose-pink-haired woman and she simply looked away. I kneeled down and laid down the bouquet of flowers on the tombstone. It was right beside a small lake and according to Lynette; it was where the shipping bin used to be. The bouquet consisted of flowers picked by Cecilia; they were all spring flowers though it was currently the winter season.

The grave was covered with snow and so was the field, Ceci used to love playing in the snow with Nicholas, particularly in the plaza which looked like a winter wonderland, it was very pretty with the decorations that the mayor had put.

Cecilia knelt beside me and she clasped her hands together as if to pray. It reminded me of my conversation with Wesley when I had told him about how Ceci had asked about God taking away Raguna a month ago. He told me that the week before, Cecilia had come to the confession room, considering that he took an oath to never reveal what people confess, he just said that Ceci still believed in God and told me not to worry.

He also brought me the news of Lara and Camus had become close friends somehow. He had apparently given up on Melody when she flatly rejected him two and a half seasons ago. They had gotten closer somehow when Camus began exploring dungeons despite the warnings of his father, he was finally convinced by Lara to stop and now, she spent her free time visiting him at his shop and teaching him how to supply himself with medicine.

Though they often deny being a couple especially the defensive Lara.

Cecilia stood up and stared at the grave. She looked serious though her emerald eyes were sad and filled with pain. I held her hand tightly but not tight enough to hurt her, I just wanted to show that I was there for her.

"Why did...Bianca leave Raguna's grave here?"

I blinked at her, I had asked Jasper that before and he said that it was part of Raguna's will according to Bianca. Although she moved to the city or the capital with their little boy, she still came with him once every season and the first place they'd always visit would be Raguna's grave. Considering the large bouquet, it seemed that they came earlier this morning. Jasper said that Bianca didn't want to stay in Kardia, it was too painful for her and she didn't want her child to have his first year in a town filled with gloom.

"Well, Raguna wanted to stay in Kardia, although he always will ... in our hearts."

Cecilia kept quiet for a few moments; she turned around as if looking for something but then returned to her long stare. She took me aback by bowing at the grave as sincerely as she could. She then turned to me.

"Do you think Raguna's watching us from up there?" She looked at me with earnest eyes. I picked her up and pointed to a star.

"Raguna is like that star, watching us from high up and twinkling when we are happy."

Ceci opened her mouth to say something but someone interrupted her.

"Oh. Hello...Mr...Russell and Cecilia..."

It was none other than my yellow-headed fellow librarian Tori. She was carrying many bags and was walking with both Melody and Zavier which struck me as odd.

"Hello Tori."

"Hello."

Cecilia stared at them with curious eyes. "Where are you going..?"

Tori turned a bit red and replied softly, "I'm going to the city...I've been meaning to go there for quite some time."

Cecilia urged me to let her go and she ran to Tori. "...You're going away..?"

Tori nodded at her. I had known this for some time but I never thought she would leave without notifying us first.

"Miss Tori, you are leaving today?"

Tori bit her lip and Zavier sighed as if telling her "I told you so."

"Tori's gonna catch the 7 o'clock train, Mom's gonna come soon, she's just closing the inn."

I felt a bit disappointed that my assistant had not told me of this news but then I thought of her shy personality, still, it was out of the ordinary.

"I...just wanted to visit...Raguna's grave...before I go..."

The three of them stood over the grave then put down one flower each. Melody was holding Zavier's hand; tears fell from her face and travelled to the ground.

I now understood why Melody had rejected Camus; she was normally the one to say, "Let's become better friends first." Though I could not believe it since from what I knew Zavier had what you could call an 'obsession', no it as too far of an extreme word, rather a certain liking to Mist that thinking that he liked someone else was almost unimaginable. That must have been the reason why he was not that depressed when news that Mist had gone off.

Tori stood up first, her nose was red and so were her eyes, just like everybody else. She said a small goodbye to Ceci and me before leaving for the border of Kardia village. But Melody caught them later.

"Here." She handed mean envelope sealed with the mark of the de Sainte-Coquilles.

"It's from Tabatha, she came early this morning, saying that it was urgent. She also told me that all the details of whatever would be in that letter. So see ya in the bath house."

She smiled at both of us and ran off in Tori's direction.

Cecilia gave me a questioning look and didn't realize that I, too, was puzzled by this letter. I told her that we should go home for now. She nodded then looked up to the sky.

"Daddy! It's snowing!"

The weather can be so strange such time, it was so sunny this morning that I thought that snow seemed very unlikely but seems, that I was wrong.

We went back to our quaint home on the second floor of the village library. How long have I lived there? Seven? Eight years? I don't remember, but I'm sure it happened around the time that I found Ceci or rather when Ceci was given to me.

I had let Cecilia fall asleep on my lap. I carried her off to her room and quietly tucked her in. I tried to leave without making a sound but I failed badly. Fortunately, it did not wake her up.

I tore open the letter as I found it more convenient that way. It was a rather long letter, a few pieces of paper stuck together probably by sealing, no wonder the envelope was a bit thick.

I unfolded the pieces of paper and it read,

"_Dear Russell,_

_I must have left this town once you have this letter. I will be accompanying Ms. Bianca and the young master to the capital and Ms. Bianca was rather serious when she said that she would not return to Kardia any time soon and that she would only be there for special occasions concerning Sir. Raguna. So I expect that I would not be able to go to Kardia either._

_Please do take care of dear Cecilia, as you know, during the war, I had no choice but to give her to you. She is the child of my sister and a human; the human had fought to protect the elves and ended up being killed by your fellow soldiers. And as you know, she had died of an illness a few weeks later, I had been protecting her from the war and that is when we found you._

_A low-ranking soldier on the brink of death, I healed you with my magic out of pity and we made that fateful deal. I knew that I was taking a gamble with Cecilia, if I ever took Cecilia back with me; she would be killed as our tribe hates both half-elves and elves and they would not show compassion even for a poor child._

_That is why I also came to Kardia, to be able to look after my niece secretly. I thank you for not exposing my real identity to Cecilia. I deeply appreciate your kindness and your consideration for Cecilia. _

_I do hope that Cecilia will get over Raguna's death, or more that she will recover, Ms. Bianca has not recovered but the young master keeps her strong. I understand that Cecilia was very close to Sir. Raguna and I would like to know how she is right now, I had not had the chance to check-up on her but she looked terrible when I saw her at the funeral. I hope that she is better now._

_All hopes and thanks I give to you, Sir Russell. Do live long and great._

_Regards,_

_Tabatha."_

The truth...I had wanted to hear it for the last eight years. It had surprised me when an elf, a supposed enemy had saved me and healed my fatal injuries. Tabatha has a similar look that Cecilia had when she was looking at Raguna's grave. It was that sad and painful look only Tabatha's was mixed with seriousness.

"_Could you help me, human?"_

I was appalled greatly, taking care of a half-elf? It was something I never thought of at all, I had become a soldier out of my will since it was a requirement for a young man of the Sech Empire. I took her offer as a gamble too as a way to change my life.

I took over my cousin's library in Kardia after he had married and moved to his wife's hometown. Along with me was Cecilia, a mere five months old. I had absolutely no idea how to take care of children, I had gone to Lady Ann often and even now, she would compare my present self to my past self. How I had changed so much and how she was proud of Cecilia.

After two seasons, Tabatha had moved in the mansion of Jasper, I was shocked and I asked her many questions, she had told me vague answers, I was never a rash person so I never demanded the answers out of her, as I came to know, Tabatha was a very calm person and was quite reasonable, I had realized that the reason behind Ceci was very serious.

I now wondered why she had told me at all. Why not at the beginning? Why only now? Is it because she could no longer supervise Cecilia? Would that have meant if Raguna never came or got married to Bianca...then died, would I have never known the reason? That was a hypothesis contrary to fact and was not a valid explanation.

Maybe it was simply because Tabatha would be separated from Cecilia and that was the only reason, that after all these years, she had told me.

How much had changed in three years. An amnesiac becomes a farmer, defeats a powerful empire and marries a rich heiress who had changed her heart due to the said farmer.

Felicity, the sick daughter of the mayor had become well again, Lynette, a former officer of the Sech Empire had changed her ways and now lived in Kardia. And Sabrina and Newman have married once again. Sharron also stayed in town a bit more.

But then he dies, and it changes us all again.

The Mist-admirer Zavier has taken a liking to the mysterious bath owner Melody. Camus and Lara had gotten closer only now despite him being the son of the doctor who the nurse works for. Mist had run off to an unknown island. Tori had gone off to the city and Ceci and Nicholas are slowly getting better together.

All these happened within three years, it was like time passed by so fast and people had come and gone. But Raguna was special, he had not just gone, he had left a mark in our hearts and that is why he would never be forgotten.

"Daddy?"

I turned around and saw a sleepy Cecilia opening my door.

"What is it Ceci?" I gestured her to sit on my lap.

"Earlier, I had thanked Raguna for everything he had done for us and how much I missed him and I think I heard his voice saying "Thank you too" though I turned around but I didn't see anyone."

That had explained her strange action earlier.

"I think that big brother loved us a lot."

"I think so too."

"But he wasn't able to tell us and maybe that's why he must have had a sad look during his funeral, right? Still I realized that we all really loved big brother too..."

I nodded at her.

"And we should have told him that, not now that he's...I wonder if he is happy wherever he is."

I simply replied, "He must be, we showed him how much we love him now and since we are all recovering slowly, he must be happy that we can move on with our lives happily."

Cecilia hugged me. "I love big brother and I always will no matter what so that big brother will always be happy because he knows that someone loves him, right?"

She smiled at me, it was not sad or forced, it was a happy innocent smile and I smiled right back.

**...xxx...**

**Now there is a matter on how old Ceci is in the timeline of this fic. I'll just put the short version:**

**Raguna's arrival: **5 turning 6

**Raguna's marriage: **7

**Raguna's death: **7

**Fic's timeline: **8

**A/N:Just so you know, Raguna had already been missing for one season when he arrived in Kardia in my story and he spent two years there. I also hope that I did not make them too OOC Dx  
**


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